The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Athyrium niponicum var. pictum, of the family Athyriaceae, which originated as selection of several Athyrium niponicum var. pictum found in the garden of the applicant.
The new variety has been reproduced only by asexual propagation (division and tissue culture). Each of the clones exhibits identical characteristics to the original selection.
This plant is characterized by the following:
1. Exceptional silvering of the uppermost surface of its foliage.
2. This plant retains its bright silvering for an extended period of time, two months as opposed to two weeks for the species.
Asexual propagation by division and tissue culture in Canby, Oreg., shows that the foregoing characteristics and distinctions come true to type and are established and transmitted through succeeding propagations. The present invention has not been evaluated under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary with variations in environment without a change in the genotype of the plant.